September 2011—

3 Idiots

“A wake-up call in this rat race of a world that we live in.” — A NutShell Review

If you have never seen a Bollywood blockbuster, or if you have seen one and were put off by the cheesy musical numbers, the Coastside Film Society has a treat for you. 3 Idiots is a superlative comedy, a great coming-of-age drama, a morality tale, and yes, a musical, all rolled into one. It quickly became one of the biggest Indian blockbusters of all time. Americans will love it just as much as the Indians did. The three musical interludes in this film are great; Joe Devlin of the Film Society says his kids were singing the songs for weeks after they watched the film.

The story centers on three friends who meet while attending a prestigious engineering college in India. Indian superstar Aamir Khan plays Rancho, the charismatic leader of the trio. He’s a genius prankster who is not only the top-ranked student, but also the bane of a school administration whose rigid rules he constantly mocks and challenges. He works hard to convince his friends that learning is meant to be joyful — and to stop worrying so much about grades and social status and instead devote all their energy to following their dreams.

Along the way the three friends crash a few weddings, save a few lives, tug a few heartstrings and solve a deep mystery. The film is set in India, so English is spoken in school, Hindi outside; subtitles are provided.

Gaurav Malani of Indiatimes calls the film “one of the most entertaining films of the decade” and says that director Rajkumar Hirani “grabs your attention from scene one with an unconventional opening to the film. Thereafter every single scene … is not just relevant but also has a clear set objective — to be funny or be deeply poignant. Which means it either makes you laugh or cry and at some superlative instances do both simultaneously. … After watching the film, you won’t mind being certified as an idiot. If you still don’t approve of the film, you are a certified cynic.”

Friday, September 23, 8 p.m. Community United Methodist Sanctuary

777 Miramontes St., Half Moon Bay (corner of Johnston Street

The film is rated PG-13 for some of the Hindi dialog and a couple of drunken scenes.

Running time: 160 minutes. Hindi and English with English subtitles.

On the Web:

www.hmbfilm.org